`` Repent, Harlequin, By Harlan Ellison

 According to A Handbook to Literature, motif refers to a "recurrent repetition of some word, phrase, situation, or idea, such as tends to unify a work through its power to recall earlier occurrences" (264). One such type of motif which has seemed to receive less critical attention is Ellison's treatment of birds.   Hence, my aim in this essay is to examine the references to birds in Invisible Man, attempting to show how Ellison uses the image of the bird to symbolize various forms of entrapment.

The children In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter play a major role in the Puritan society. With their honest opinions of Hester and Pearl, the children are presented as more perceptive and more honest than adults. Due to their innocence, children are capable of expressing themselves without constraints; there are no laws or regulations that they are bounded by. As an adolescent go through the stages of life and grow older, they begin to be more conscious of the how they act as they are more aware of society and the things that are occurring in the world, creating a filter for their actions. When they remain as the children, on the other hand, are adventurous; they are still exploring the universe that seems to fill with mysteries that are bound to be solved. They tend to attach to the truth and they are not afraid to speak it freely. Children differ from adults in their potential for expressing these perceptions. With their obliviousness to the things that are actually going on around the town, children therefore react differently compared to the adults, who are more knowledgeable. Perceived to be immature, young children are presented as more perceptive and more honest than adults due to their innocence, how they are unaware of the reality and the crimes that are presented in society by the adults enables them to be blithe and not afraid of saying what they feel like. Due to their naivety, when they express what they perceive to be true, they do not get punished,

A satirical genius not recognized as such in his early years, Vonnegut published what is now a staple in high school classrooms in 1961. This work is named for a character who appears only briefly, but in that time creates a very strong impression; Harrison Bergeron is a fourteen year-old boy who surpasses most of society in every measurable quality. Vonnegut’s brash description of Harrison depicts him as some monstrous being of metal and sandbags, reminiscent of horror movie villains of times long past. Despite his limited dialogue, the words Harrison speaks reinforce this image to a tee; he is a power hungry beast of a boy. Victim to delusions of grandeur,

As Lemony Snicket wrote in The Blank Book, “People don’t always get what they deserve in this world.” 1930s America was fraught with racism, especially in the southern states. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, a Negro man by the name of Tom Robinson was put on trial. Although he was not guilty, the jury convicted him because of the colour of his skin. During the trial, others showed injustice towards Tom and people that were on his side. As Tom’s lawyer, Atticus Finch was not admired by many of the white citizens of Maycomb, the town in which the novel takes place. Although Atticus and Jean Louise Finch (Scout) were white, they were still treated unjustly as a result of helping and supporting Tom Robinson. Scout, Atticus’

““There was witchcraft in little Pearl’s eyes, and her face, as she glanced upward at the minister, wore that naughty smile which made its expression frequently so elvish.” (Hawthorne 145) This, is a misleading description that Nathaniel Hawthorne depicts of Pearl, the daughter of Hester Prynne, in his classic novel The Scarlet Letter. Pearl is the living product of sin for her mother. Born out of wedlock, Pearl is a unique child that tends to be very moody and unpredictable. However, Pearl, at such a young age, demonstrates outstanding knowledge and exhibits curiosity to her mother’s scarlet letter, and the hypocrisy of Puritan society. Although Pearl portrays devilish characteristics and performs mischievous behaviour, she

The story "The Man in the Black Suit" written by Stephen King, can take the reader back in time to 1914 to walk a mile in Gary’s shoes. Throughout this story there is a great deal of imagery. Imagery is used help bring the story to life using descriptive elements to grasp the mental image that Stephen King is trying to convey. Imagery however isn’t the only element in the story to help draw in the reader. The use of themes and connections with symbolism also help tie in the whole story together and to help certainly draw in the reader.

A great American mathematician, John W. Tukey, once said “The greatest value of a picture is when it forces us to notice what we never expected to see.” This quote relates to stories because the author can use figurative language and descriptive language to paint a picture in the reader’s head. By using these, the author can almost assure the reader that they have the same vision as the author has. In the novel The Pigman by Paul Zindel, many examples of figurative language and descriptive adjectives are present to help the reader envision the story in their minds and to develop characters.

As great effect as emotions can have on someone, even greater is the effect of how one reacts to his emotions. Arguably the two most influential of these emotions are guilt and anger. They can drive a man to madness or encourage actions of vindication. Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale are subject to this very notion in Nathaniel Hawthorne 's The Scarlet Letter. Hester simply accepted that what she had done was wrong, whereas Dimmesdale, being a man of high regard, did not want to accept the reality of what he did. Similar to Hester and Dimmesdale, Roger Chillingworth allows his emotions to influence his life; however, his influence came as the result of his anger. Throughout the book, Hawthorne documents how Dimmesdale and Hester 's

It is often taught that to be persuasive, one must be clear and logical. In “The Wheelchair Butterfly,” James Tate takes a completely different approach; instead, he utilizes chaos to further his meaning and connect with a specific readership. Largely, it is Tate’s structure that reflects this chaos, and the meticulous arrangement of “The Wheelchair Butterfly” signifies that its setting and occurrences portray something more sinister than a bizarre and moderately grotesque town. Tate’s target readers for this elaborate, empathetically chaotic poem must be educated enough to be able to parse through his imagery, open to self-examination, and part of a society in a time of elevated social and political conflict. Thus, Tate gesticulates towards the hidden, systematic corruption common of societies with elevated social conflicts in a way that connects with the conflicted feelings his specific readership might feel towards this corruption in their own lives using elements of structure such as surreal imagery, enjambment, and simile. Using these elements, Tate attempts to relate to his readers by distracting them, creating a confusion versus clarity disparity, and transforming the nature of their concerns to make them softer and more acceptable. Because Tate’s target readers will attempt to decipher the poem’s hectic contents, these factors give readers an opportunity to examine themselves along with the poem. This highly empathetic and unconventional approach, similarly seen in Frank O’Hara’s “A Step Away From Them,” has its successes as well as its downfalls, mostly in terms of its range of readership. Though poems more explicit about their intentions, such as Lucille Clifton’s “[i am accused of tending to the past],” may be more accessible to a greater number of readers, some level of empathy is lost in their candor. The key difference between Tate and O’Hara’s poems versus Clifton’s poem, then, is a matter of being understood by a wide range of readers versus being compelling to a small group of readers. ?

Le uses descriptive imagery of objects in order to show the internal nature of the characters. The narrator holds a butterfly paperweight next to her ear and “[hears] a soft rustling, like wings brushing against a windowpane. The rustling was a whispered song. It was the butterfly’s way of speaking, and [she] thought [she] understood it” (Le 25) Le captures the narrator’s young, wild imagination by showing an impossible interaction between the narrator and the butterfly paperweight. She evokes an image of wings brushing against a windowpane to prompt readers to imagine the butterfly’s swift fluttering in the paperweight. She compares the paperweight to her “Ba’s heavy head pressed down on the pillow at night, full of thoughts that dragged him into nightmares when all he wanted was a dream as sweet

Ellison elects to employ bleak, mechanical diction juxtaposed with glimmers of uniqueness in order to contrast the ideas of individuality and uniformity. He begins by offering us the dark and bland description of this society by using words such as "cubicles of the hierarchy"[2],"metronomic"[2], and "practiced motion"[3]. Line after line is sprinkled with bleakness as the reader finds no appeal in the conforming society. He then juxtaposes the mechanical and uniform diction with that of color, joy, and hope. This is first expressed in the mention of "jelly beans"[4]. This particular word appeals to the emotions of the reader and brings out feelings of happiness, fun, and uniqueness. We favor the Harlequin over the Society. We grow fond of what he represents. This is only furthered later on in the tale as Ellison continues to insert a plethora of diction choices that further darken the corrupt totalitarian regime. Ellison also conveys the idea of repetition through the phrase "And so it goes. And so it goes. And so it goes"[5].

To start the book, we find that a young woman has committed adultery and when standing in front of a mocking crowd, she is ashamed of her actions. Continuing through the book we find that the adulteress, Hester Prynne, displays many examples of positive outcomes arising from negative situations. She becomes more and more aware of the faults of society and becomes wiser as she deals with the consequences of her actions. Even though Hester made a terrible decision that came with many extremely negative effects, she gained personality traits, perceptions, and people that rose from her mistake.

Surveillance can be considered the act of being watched under a close eye and can have either a positive or negative effect on a person. Some individuals feel more at ease knowing that someone is always there watching which is to create a supposedly safe environment. Others feel pressure from society or their peers to live up to their respected positions and morals of the society, much like Dimmesdale, which causes extreme paranoia. In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Dimmesdale is an example that demonstrates negative effects that surveillance can have on a person. In the romance, Dimmesdale is faced with both his own surveillance and Chillingworth’s surveillance. However, Dimmesdale’s own scrutiny causes more damage to himself than Chillingworth’s does.

Concepts, techniques, and ways of thinking can last much longer than their creators. The philosophy of Plato is an example of that. Its ideas can be found in a speech written thousands of years later. In “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” Frederick Douglass, a former slave, addresses an audience of white abolitionists on July 5th of 1852. He focuses on the disparity between the American values celebrated on the Independence Day and the issue of slavery. To do so, Douglass raises the question of to whom those values apply and explains why and how it should be different. Analyzing Douglass’ effort, we see that he is using arguments that trace back to the ancient Platonic ideas to support his stance on the equally ancient question of citizenship.

Harlequin characters have acted as a precursor to the modern model of clowns. Within the Italian genre of the commedia dell’arte. Within this genre, the harlequin is a stock character recognized for foolish behavior and stupidity. These traits have traditionally defined the character, and are often the core components of the character’s emotional and psychological depth. However, the figure has been portrayed as a more complex character. A clear contrast between the idiotic nature of the traditional archetype and the psychologically-developed persona is displayed in the differing portrayals in Carlo Goldoni’s The Servant of Two Masters and Molière’s The Imaginary Invalid.